Chris Christie doesn’t expect to lead any polls going into New Hampshire. But the former New Jersey governor said he’s confident he’ll still leave the first presidential primary victorious.
“And everyone will be completely shocked,” Christie said.
A date for the New Hampshire primary has not been set, though it is expected to be January of next year.
In a visit to USA TODAY’s offices Thursday, Christie reiterated his belief that he will win favor among Granite State voters and that any polls until then won’t tell the whole story.
An alternative to Trump
In a crowded field of GOP candidates, Christie has been one of Donald Trump’s most vocal critics. And he said his sentiments are echoed by voters he meets in the first primary state.
“I don’t think that New Hampshire Republicans are wed to Donald Trump,” he said.
For those voters that tell him they don’t want to vote for the former president this time around, Christie has pitched himself as the candidate they should turn to instead.
“I think people will start to focus on what did he really deliver, as opposed to what he said,” Christie said, adding that he believes Trump fell short of promises made during his past four years in the White House.
What the New Hampshire polls say
A Granite State Poll this week showed Christie fourth among GOP candidates, more than 30 points behind Trump, the top choice among likely Republican primary voters.
Christie said he is not worried about these numbers, given recent history.
“If you remember back to 2016, Trump was never ahead in a poll, ever. Until election night,” he said. “People were reluctant to say they were for Trump when a pollster called because it wasn’t really politically correct to say you’re for Trump.”
Now, Christie said he sees the opposite effect. “Now, it is not politically correct to say you’re against Donald Trump.”
He also credited the poll disparities to Trump’s notoriety.
“Of course he’s going to be ahead of any of us, [he’s] better known than any of us,” Christie told USA TODAY. “As well-known as any of us think we are, we’re not. And we’re not nearly as well-known as somebody who was president of the United States.”
